44. NAPOLEON'S RETURN. [These lines commemorate the removal of the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte from the Island of St. Helena to France in 1840, in a ship of war commanded by the Prince de Joinville, a son of Louis Philippe, then king of France.] A BARK has left the sea-girt isle, A prince is at the helm; She bears the exile emperor Back to his ancient realm. No joyous shout bursts from her crew, 2. A soldier comes! Haste, comrades, haste! A leader comes! Let loud huzzas Burst from the extended line, 3. A conqueror comes! Fly, Austrian, fly! Kneel, Lombard, kneel! That pallid brow The eagles wave the trumpet sounds! Ye victors of a hundred fields, Surround your chief once more! 4. A monarch comes! From royal arms A monarch comes! the triple crown Guard him not to the halls of State, But bear him where yon hallowed spire And with the requiem's plaintive swell, And throne your monarch there! 5. Napoleon comes! Go speak that word At midnight's awful hour, In Champ de Mars; will it not prove Will not a shadowy host arise From pass, and height, and plain, 6. Go speak it in the Louvre's halls, 'Mid priceless works of art; Will not each life-like figure from The glowing canvas start? Go to Versailles, where heroes frown, And monarchs live in stone; Across those chiselled lips will not A startling murmur run? No, no, the marble still may be Cold, cold and silent-so is he. The pencil's living hues may bloom, But his have faded in the tomb, And warriors in their narrow homes Sleep, reckless that their leader comes. 7. Napoleon comes! but Rhine's pure flood 8. Napoleon comes! but Moscow's spires Proclaims it where the Cæsars sleep, 9. He will not wake at war's alarms, He will not wake when Europe hears Are numbered with forgotten things, Rest with the people, not their kings. 10. Now raise the imperial monument, Has gained at last the treasured dust; Sleep! mighty mortal, sleep! MISS WALLACE. 45. THE SOLDIER'S FUNERAL. HE muffled drum rolled on the air, THE Warriors with stately step were there; 2. That soldier had stood on the battle-plain, But the brand and the ball had passed him by, 'Twas hard to be numbered amid the dead, 8. The bugles ceased their wailing sound, A volley was fired, a blessing said, One moment's praise-and they left the dead! His step was feeble, and his lip was wan; He knelt him down on the new-raised mound, The FATHER had prayed o'er his only son. LANDOX 46. PRESS ON. RESS on surmount the rocky steeps, PRESS Climb boldly o'er the torrent's arch : He fails alone who feebly creeps, He wins who dares the hero's march. Be thou a hero! let thy might Tramp on eternal snows its way, 2. Press on if once and twice thy feet 3. Press on if Fortune play thee false Makes up for follies past and gone : 4. Therefore, press on! and reach the goal, Come wealth, and honor, and renown. To thine own self be true, and keep Thy mind from sloth, thy heart from soil; Press on and thou shalt surely reap A heavenly harvest for thy toil! PARK BENJAMIN. |